St. Paul man gets 16 years for attacking relative, her boyfriend

A man who stabbed, beat and choked a female relative -- injuring her so severely he was sure he had killed her -- was sentenced Tuesday to more than 16 years in prison.

Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson also gave Paul Lee, 23, an additional term of 15 years but stayed that sentence for 20 years so he could receive services and be monitored while on probation.

Lee, of St. Paul, knocked on the door of the 27-year-old victim's home about 1:30 a.m. May 17. She was surprised to see him; he was someone she had little contact with, she told police.

Lee asked to use her phone.

After she brought him her cellphone, he choked her until she passed out. Lee also attacked the woman's boyfriend when he tried to intervene.

Behind most crimes is a motive, defense attorney Gary Wolf said. "We don't have that here," he said. "There is no reason for it."

The defendant told police he drove to the woman's home but wasn't sure why. He admitted he had been drinking.

Wolf wondered out loud about whether Lee's use of a memory-enhancement drug and a muscle strengthener had somehow caused a physiological reaction when mixed with the alcohol.

After the attack, Lee called his wife, saying he had killed the woman. He repeatedly told another relative, "Dude, I messed up!"

Police found the victim lying outside her home in the 1700 block of Maryland Avenue in St. Paul. She was "sitting on the curb in a fetal position, with blood covering her face, neck and chest," the criminal complaint said.

Advertisement

"Both of her eyes were swollen shut and bruised. She was naked from the waist down and her white camisole was ripped and soaked in blood."

The woman told police she thought the defendant had raped her with an unknown object. Lee denied it. Prosecutors did not charge Lee with criminal sexual conduct; they did not have enough evidence to prove that charge, they said.

In a letter to a reporter, written after he was charged with attempted murder and assault, Lee said he is not the "monster" he was portrayed as.

He had a loving wife, a beautiful daughter and a new son on the way, he said. He had just been approved for a home loan and had completed his second semester at St. Paul College for a machine tool technology degree.

He had a misdemeanor DWI conviction but no other criminal history.

"Didn't know my 23rd b-day celebration would end my life and stop me dead on my track in chasing the American dream," he wrote.

Lee frequently wiped his eyes during his sentencing.

"Your Honor, there is no words to describe how disappointed and mad I am at myself," Lee said in court. "I take full responsibility for what happened."

The victim fought back tears as she addressed the court.

The attack led her to put her house up for sale because she couldn't bear to live there anymore. She felt betrayed by family members who helped the defendant after the crime. She lost time at work because of her injuries, lost her pets due to her living situation and has permanent scars on her face and chest, she said.

Her ordeal made her feel "that my life has no purpose, that I really should have been dead," she said.